(REOPENS DEL30)

Abdullah said dialogue with all stakeholders is the only way to address the Kashmir issue. There is no solution without dialogue and the Centre would have to talk to Pakistan because "we cannot change our neighbour", he added.

"Either we can live with our neighbour in a state of war and cause destruction like it is happening today. Who is getting killed? The citizens of Kashmir. But its solution is not gun.

"There are elections in some states so that is why they (the Centre) are trying to show that they are brave and can do this. Let you show us. They cannot do anything. There is no way forward than talks and no solution without it," he said.

He said Kashmir will never become a part of Pakistan because the people here have rejected autocracy long before.

"Im telling you frankly whether people like it or not. Kashmir will not become (part of) Pakistan. You can write that with my blood. Im telling you this honestly because we do not want to become their slaves.

"We do not want to be buried under autocracy. There are still those landlords who rule there, not poor people. Kashmir pushed them away when Sher-e-Kashmir (NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah) abolished that system and gave land to tillers but there (Pakistan) is still that system," he said.

The NC leader said there is only one way out that they keep that part of Kashmir, India keeps this part.

He said Kashmiris wanted autonomy that existed prior to 1953.

The former Union Minister said today children in Kashmir say they want freedom and are not seeking to take sides with India or Pakistan but absolute freedom.

"It (desire for freedom) is in their blood now and Modi should answer this. He should answer these children whether he has done justice to the state. Did yours or the previous governments do justice with the people here or betray them," he said. PTI SSB MIJ AAR

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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